Prior art is congested with various renditions of eating utensils including spoons, forks and knifes. Eating utensils are designed for the purpose of effectively manipulating food or liquids by holding food in place, lifting food to the mouth, stirring liquids or cutting foods. Conventionally, eating utensils include an elongated handle integrally formed with a distal working end comprising any one of a plurality of tines for defining a fork, a small shallow bowl defining a spoon, or an extending blade for defining a knife. The utensils are typically fabricated from a rust-resistant metal such as stainless steel. Eating utensils are characterized as having a variety of different dimensions, shapes and sizes. For example, forks include a number of large or small sized tines that form a dinner fork, a salad fork, or a desert fork. Knifes often include a dull edge blade for use as a butter knife, or a blade having a plurality of sharp ridges generally used for carving. The concave shallow bowl associated with spoons can also be larger or smaller in size resulting in different spoons such as a baby spoon, an adult spoon, or a soup spoon. In general, eating utensils are categorically selected to assist individuals in a variety of different food or drink related activities.
A large majority of prior art eating utensils are focused on improving the handle section of the instrument. For example, many utensils have been designed to provide enlarged handles, handles including friction-enhancing features such as dimples or indentations, and handles including a foam or cushion to provide comfort during use. Other special need utensils have also been designed to address a number of challenges facing the elderly or children having limited manual dexterity. For example, self-leveling spoons have been implemented to allow individuals to feed themselves without spilling food. Some utensils include tethers or straps that are removeably attached to the wrist of the user to prevent the utensil from falling to the floor.
Though the newly constructed prior art eating utensils help accommodate a variety of different needs, and assist individuals in better handling the utensils during use, such instruments fail to provide a hygienic solution in reducing and preventing germs from contaminating the working end of the utensil. For example, when handling eating utensils, adults often place the utensils on a planar surface such as a dinner table, in a sink, within a plate, or simply store the utensils in a drawer when not in use. As traditional prior art eating utensils are placed on the planar surface, the distal working end of the utensil generally comes in contact with the surface. As the utensil is placed on the table, in a plate, or in a drawer, the working end of the fork, spoon, or knife is exposed to contamination by germs and bacteria. Many surfaces are dirty, and include contaminants, germs and bacteria if not washed regularly. As a result, a contaminated eating utensil can pose a health risk to both infants and adults alike. Typically, eating utensils are simply transferred from a drawer to a table setting in preparation for eating. The user grasps the eating utensil lying flat on the table and proceeds to eat with the use of the utensil.
Efforts have been implemented to reduce contamination of eating utensils. Some prior art devices having incorporated lifters that are separately attached to the body of the eating utensils to help elevate the utensil. In some exemplary embodiments, lifters comprise round or rectangular members having an aperture for receiving a utensil. Other lifters include base members for simply resting the utensils thereon. The use of such lifters presents certain drawbacks. For example, prior art lifters provide an additional piece that must be separately attached to and detached from each individual utensil before and after use, the lifters are often misplaced when separated from the utensil, and assembling the lifters to the utensils can be time consuming.
Though conventional prior art has addressed some issues related to traditional eating utensils, there remains a need for an eating utensil that is safe and easy to use, is configured to elevate the distal working end of the utensil to avoid contamination when the utensil is disposed on a planar surface, and provides utensils that can be stacked one on top of the other for storage and packaging.